Dinner Music: Walter Wanderley
1966 sounds from Brazil's "number one" organist
Walter Wanderley was a Brazilian organist and pianist best known for his lounge and bossa nova sounds. Though he was famous in Brazil by 1950, he rose to international acclaim through his collaboration with Astrud Gilberto. In many of his arrangements, he favored a lush, yet minimal sound and typically used a Hammond B3 organ backed with light percussion or brass to achieve it.
Rain Forest was released in 1966 and features well-known Brazilian and Latin bossa nova compositions, like Summer Samba and The Girl from Ipanema. Its sound is distinctly poolside, like the kind of vibe one would expect to hear while sipping a pina colada in Palm Springs. Most of the tracks are upbeat and effortless, though the track Rain drops the tempo a bit and swaps the organ for a perfectly melancholic piano line. Judith Schlesinger, a music reviewer for Allmusic, wrote that when listening to Rain Forest, the listener is “catapulted straight back to the '60s when bossa nova was new in the U.S. and everyone wanted a piece of it.”
Enjoy.
Rain Forest - Walter Wanderley
Pair this album with:
Grilled Garlic-and-Black-Pepper Shrimp. A fun, grilled shrimp skewer recipe for a tiki-style dinner. Is there any other way to listen to bossa nova than with a skewer?
Tiki Snack Mix. Toss everything on a baking sheet, cover it with pineapple, sesame seeds, soy sauce, honey and cayenne. It’s sticky! It’s sweet! It’s very delicious and very easy.
Classic Daiquiri. Every good tiki style dinner has one thing in common: a daiquiri. It’s warming up, so it’s time for the tiki cocktails.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. ✨